habit of
offering to both high and low, and drinking themselves. The ale which
was brought to me was thin washy stuff, which though it did not taste
much of hop, tasted still less of malt, made and sold by one Allsopp, who
I am told calls himself a squire and a gentleman--as he certainly may
with quite as much right as many a lord calls himself a nobleman and a
gentleman; for surely it is not a fraction more trumpery to make and sell
ale than to fatten and sell game. The ale of the Saxon squire, for
Allsopp is decidedly an old Saxon name, however unakin to the practice of
old Saxon squires the selling of ale may be, was drinkable, for it was
fresh, and the day, as I have said before, exceedingly hot; so I took
frequent draughts out of the shining metal tankard in which it was
brought, deliberating both whilst drinking, and in the intervals of
drinking, on what I had next best do.

* * * * *

Late in the afternoon we reached Medina del Campo, formerly one of the
principal cities of Spain, though at present an inconsiderable place.
Immense ruins surround it in every direction, attesting the former
grandeur of this 'city of the plain.' The great square or market place
is a remarkable spot, surrounded by a heavy massive piazza, over which
rise black buildings of great antiquity. We found the town crowded with
people awaiting the fair, which was to be held in a day or two. We
experienced some difficulty in obtaining admission into the posada, which
was chiefly occupied by Catalans from Valladolid. These people not only
brought with them their merchandise, but their wives and children. Some
of them appeared to be people of the worst description: there was one in
particular, a burly savage-looking fellow, of about forty, whose conduct
was atrocious; he sat with his wife, or perhaps concubine, at the door of
a room which opened upon the court: he was continually venting horrible
and obscene oaths, both in Spanish and Catalan. The woman was remarkably
handsome, but robust, and seemingly as savage as himself; her
conversation likewise was as frightful as his own. Both seemed to be
under the influence of an incomprehensible fury. At last, upon some
observation from the woman, he started up, and drawing a long knife from
his girdle, stabbed at her naked bosom; she, however, interposed the palm
of her hand, which was much cut. He stood for a moment viewing the blood
trickling upon the ground, whilst she held up her wound